The Fringe Blueprint is a list of eight commitments we made in 2017, informing all the work we do ahead of the Fringe’s 75th anniversary in 2022. One of these commitments is to reduce the Fringe’s carbon footprint and champion initiatives that limit our impact on the environment.
The Society’s sustainability priorities between 2019 and 2022 are to:
continue to provide Fringe participants with tools that help them consider the environmental impact of the work they produce at the Fringe
work with our partners and stakeholders to communicate our sustainable agenda both externally and internally
embed environmental, economic and social sustainability across our core business.
The Society has committed the following actions by 2022:
reduce the number of paper tickets produced by the Fringe box office by creating a fully integrated digital solution
reduce our paper usage by a third, with emphasis on reducing our print programme
ensure sustainability is incorporated, where possible, into every aspect of our buildings.
Where we are now
Since 2015, the Fringe Society has reduced its carbon footprint by 63%.
We have replaced our printers with energy-efficient models.
We’ve pre-set all of our computers to print double sided, and turned off colour printing.
We’ve equipped our core team with laptops, resulting in a reduction in printed materials
We recycle 100% of the paper we use in our buildings.
We use thermal paper which is free from bisphenol A (BPA) for our ticket stock, making it 100% recyclable.
At the end of the financial year we inform each of our teams how much print they’ve generated and use this as a benchmark for reduction.
We are working with other festivals and the City of Edinburgh Council to establish a more coherent city-wide recycling plan.
We are working towards a fully integrated digital solution for ticketing. This will take time and require wider infrastructure changes in the city; we aim to provide clear options to venues and audiences in the interim.
We are committed to a circular economy framework for Street Event materials (using resources for as long as possible then recovering / regenerating materials instead of disposal).
We collaborate with all our suppliers to share storage, materials and services.
We are committed to supporting venues to use less power and eradicating the use of generators. On this latter point, we’ve also
arranged for one of our buildings to provide power to the Mercat stage (part of the Street Events).
invested in a power outlet on Princes Street to reduce the use of generators at the Mound Street Events.
We welcome the City of Edinburgh Council’s commitment to install power sources for outdoor pop-up activity.
We will inform all contractors of our sustainability principles, including those supplying the physical infrastructure for our Street Events.
We are committed to supporting an extended pre-production timeframe to ensure build, turnaround and tech processes allow for better research and ethical procurement.
We recognise that processing waste, even by recycling, is highly carbon intensive. As such, we’ve taken the following measures to reduce waste.
We’ve decreased our landfill waste and recycling year on year, with only a slight increase where personnel has grown.
We provide clear signage for everyone using our buildings to limit the waste they bring on site, including recyclable products.
We’ve reduced the print run for the Fringe programme from 395,000 in 2017 to 350,000 in 2019, and will reduce it further as we continue to explore digital options.
In 2018, we contracted Enva to manage our waste and recycling at the Street Events on the High Street and Mound. Enva works to provide solutions that are more environmentally friendly such as refuse-derived fuel, recycling and resource delivery. We also created messaging for the street bins to highlight our commitment to reducing our carbon footprint.
We’re working with City of Edinburgh Council and other partners on a city-wide initiative to ensure signage for recycling is accessible to all audiences.
We are committed to a core principle of reducing and re-using across all areas of our work.
Our travel emissions have decreased over the past four years and we work hard to continue this trend.
We have introduced a procurement process that enables our staff to make travel arrangements in advance, ensuring the most sustainable mode of travel can be sourced.
By investing in technology, we’ve been able to replace many of our in-person roadshows with the FringeCast online advice series. Episodes in 2019 were viewed by artists in 51 countries, with participants joining from every continent (except Antarctica). This has not only decreased our need to travel but also that of future participants who previously needed to travel to in-person information sessions.
We negotiated a Fringe participants’ discount rate with Serco JustEat bikes to encourage cycling across the city.
We use Claim Expenses software to record and measure our travel, enabling ethical decision-making.
We plan to review travel policy for Senior Managers and Board members and revise this in line with our sustainability strategy.
We have committed to avoiding air travel within mainland UK, choosing instead to either travel by rail or hold digital meetings. We’re also working towards providing similar options for Fringe participants.
In 2019 we committed to dramatically reducing our taxi travel by providing bus passes and bike hire information to our staff as well as encouraging them to plan well in advance to enable better options such as bus, walking and cycling.
We aim to create a carbon travel budget for each team in the Society and work with a travel partner to offset international travel.
Due to the age of our buildings we’re unable to generate our own power; instead, we will state and implement energy reduction targets and continue to invest in more efficient hardware.
We will conduct a feasibility study to determine what is possible within our estate and when exploring a new home for the Fringe Society.
60% of the energy we use is renewable, provided by Good Energy. At the end of our current contracts we will move to Ecotricity who provide carbon-neutral gas.
Our power usage has continued to decrease, mostly due to investing in more energy-efficient and robust hardware across our operations.
We’ve held a series of events with Fringe venue managers to ensure they’re informed about government sustainability targets and their own responsibilities in this respect.
We’re supporting venues to look at practical ways of reducing single-use plastics and improving their waste management.
We work with artists on recycling props and stage equipment.
We arrange a Swap Shop (for kit, props, costumes etc) and foodbank collection at the end of each festival which are free for participants.
We have signed a Climate Compact with the Edinburgh Climate Commission to demonstrate our commitment to significant change.
We meet regularly with the Festivals Edinburgh Environment Sustainability Working Group to partner with other festivals and the City of Edinburgh Council to identify wider city challenges and advocate for collective change.
We work with other festivals on developing solutions and lobbying for change where responsibility sits with local or Scottish Government on issues such as transport and travel digital infrastructure, waste management and renewable power.
